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 The Crystal Serenity at sea. (Courtesy Crystal Cruises) |
ABOARD CRYSTAL SERENITY -- Mama Lee loves to dance. Loves it so much that she sold her mansion in Florida and took up residence on a cruise ship, where she can dance every night of the week.
Lee Wachstetter -- that's her real name but everyone calls her Mama Lee -- is a sprightly 80-something widow. On many ships she would be a wallflower when the band strikes up, a single lady waiting for a ship's officer, perhaps, to ask her to dance. Or she'd be sitting in the bar or playing the slots.
But here on the Serenity she always has a dance partner, thanks to a program called Ambassador Hosts. These are single, mature men (minimum age 45, but mostly they're in their late 50s, 60s or even spry 70s) who are on board to help unattached ladies fight boredom.
Mama Lee is one of 59 women on this trip -- from Rome to Barcelona -- who are widows or travelling alone.
"The hosts are my reason for being here," she says. "I used to travel with (she names another cruise line) but when they cut back on the dance partners program I said, 'The day they leave, I leave.' "
And leave she did, packing her cabin trunk and transferring to the Serenity, which is, for all intents and purposes, her home these days. This Mediterranean segment was, she calculates, her 195th cruise.
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"Mama Lee is a jewel,'' says Norman Pendergraft, one of four hosts on this cruise. Pendergraft, a retired professor of art history from Durham, N.C., has been a dance host for more than a decade and "loves every minute of it."
Mama Lee took a lot of cruises with her husband of 50 years. He died 11 years ago.
"He didn't dance," she says. "Maybe that's why I have this obsession to make up for 50 years lost time."
A few years ago, as she found she was taking more and more cruises -- and always looking for a dance partners program on board -- she sold her house in Fort Lauderdale and adopted a life at sea. Her personal calling card reads: "Leona Wachstetter. Dancing, cruising, enjoying life."
It goes without saying that ballroom dancing -- foxtrot, waltz, tango et al -- is the norm here, for Crystal cruisers are, in the main, "mature" people.
Crystal has had Ambassador Hosts aboard since the launch of its first ship, Crystal Harmony, in 1990, says Mimi Weisband, the line's public relations spokesperson.
Adds Bret Bullock, Crystal's vice president, entertainment: "Thousands of guests each year, from all over the world, can attest that having a dance partner can greatly enrich the cruise experience."
The hosts don't just dance. Although there's no set pattern, they also join single women at meals, host dance classes, accompany groups on shore excursions and play cards with guests. But it's the dancing that's paramount.
The men -- only singles may apply -- stress that there's no romance or hanky-panky on the job. They are there to be sociable, not sexy.
Still, it's rumoured there have been instances where phone numbers were exchanged for shore-side follow ups, and, in at least one case (the story goes) wedding bells rang later.
The men explain they're not paid to dance. But they get to cruise free, the company meets their expenses to and from the ship, their laundry is taken care of and they live in passenger cabins, not crew quarters.
And when they're not dancing -- there are two sessions a night -- there's the nightly entertainment in the theatre.
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IF YOU GO
CRUISING AND DANCING DANCE HOST DETAILS
Want to become an Ambassador Host and travel the world? Crystal Cruises asks that you submit a resume, photo headshot and video or DVD of yourself dancing with a partner. Mail the package, with covering letter, to: Sheila Hoffman, Crystal Cruises Ambassador Host Program, 2049 Century Park East, Suite 1400, Los Angeles, Calif. 90067, U.S.A. Remember: Single men only need apply.
CRUISE DETAILS
For more information on Crystal Cruises, see crystalcruises. com.